The Adversary
by Andy Depp Ackles
Summary: Flashbacks from the past nine months of life at TC leading up to Max's break-down. Max faces her worst nightmare. Will the only person who understands her be able to talk her down from the edge?
1. Chapter 1

The Adversary

A/N: I woke up in the middle of the night and had this semi-dream-state thought…so I decided to act on it straight away and get up and write this. This will be my first attempt at a complete one-shot. Slightly AU although it all could have happened post season 2.  
P.S: in my mind I imagined Sasha to look like Megan Fox.

Chapter 1

"Max?…Max!…What're you doing!" The voice was distant and muffled in Max's mind. She wasn't even sure she knew who it was or if it was real. The only thing real to her was the cityscape she looked out across right now. Someone out there was living a normal, happy, life (maybe not such a happy one but at least it was normal right?). Max took one step closer to the edge. She wondered if she could crash heaven's party. Or maybe God would send her to hell for all the damage she'd caused in her life. Maybe she wouldn't go anywhere. The thought of non-existence frightened Max but was also slightly relieving at the same time. The thought had occurred to her before: she didn't have a real soul. She wasn't made by God and wasn't one of his living creatures. Maybe those fools babbling about the transgenic race on TV weren't really fools at all.

Max took a deep breath. It didn't matter anyway. The air at the top of the space needle was cold, colder than usual. Max mentally said goodbye to everything she knew and everyone that used to care for her as she let herself fall…

…...

_23 hours earlier… OC's apartment_

Max wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked herself slightly. It had a calming effect. She heard OC get up and walk towards her old room.

"Hey." Max greeted as her best friend leaned against her doorframe.

"Can't sleep?" OC looked half dead.

"Don't really have'ta." Max smiled. "Don't worry about me, you look like you got hit by a train, get back to sleep."

OC let out a small laugh. "Don't you go tellin' Original Cindy how she looks, you don't pay the rent here no more so I got no problem evictin' yo ass." Max also laughed. "C'mon Max you can tell me what it is. Why'd you have'ta get outta Terminal City so bad?"

Max's smile faltered. "I can't tel-"

"You can." OC said, cutting her off.

Max thought about it. Would OC believe her if she told her or would she throw her out? After a moment of silence Max answered. "I don't really want to tell you." She said softly.

"You gotta tell me Max." Original Cindy crossed her arms, her expression defiant. "I ain't goin'ta bed until you do."

Max took a deep breath. "Everyone thinks that I killed Sasha and that Alec helped me."

OC's expression changed. She had to use the doorframe for more support. "Did you?" She asked quietly.

Max paused, unsure whether to go with Alec's advice. "No." Max shook her head after a moment.

"Don't lie to me Max I know how much you hated that woman."

"It doesn't mean that I'd kill her!" Max stood suddenly in defense.

OC had taken a step back. A new look of fear that Max had never seen before plastered her best friend's face. Max sighed. She didn't believe her. And why should she? "I should go." Max snapped walking past OC quickly and exiting the apartment. Original Cindy didn't object even though it was four o'clock in the morning.

_21 hours earlier… Alec's apartment_

Max waited. Where was he? He said he'd be there in an hour when she'd phoned him. An hour had gone by nearly an hour ago. What if he'd been captured by Mole? Would they kill him? Max calmed her thoughts. No, no, she wouldn't believe that. No matter how angry the whole of TC was with her and Alec right now they would never stoop so low. Well, maybe the transgenics with morals. What if one of the few violent one's had caught Alec? They would kill him. No doubt about it. Max rose to her feet suddenly and with that was out of the apartment building. As she descended the stairs she wondered how she hadn't thought this through before. She'd been so stupid letting Alec talk her into letting him sneak into TC alone.

_20 hours earlier…Border of Terminal City_

The Seattle sun warmed Max's back as she hid behind a huge chunk of concrete. If Max was right and no one had changed any schedules the border patrols were almost over. Then she'd have exactly twenty minutes to get in. Thankfully she knew which path Alec had taken. She'd tried his cell phone again but it was off. She peeked to the side of her cover and zoomed in with her eyesight to see Mole talking to some X6's and X5's. He was probably telling them to 'watch for Max. Make sure Max doesn't get in. Capture Max. Kill Max. Make sure Max doesn't start the friggin' apocalypse.' For all Max knew he could've been saying that from the amount of times she saw him mouth her name. She wanted to vomit. How could they still be loyal to Sasha, even after she'd died. Max remembered the day she'd arrived.

It had all started about nine months ago. A new transgenic had sought out safety and refuge at the pleasure resort that was TC. Max had been the CO for a little over two months. She'd chosen Alec as her SIC as soon as the position was available. The new girl called Sasha was the same age as Max. She'd said she was X5. Hell, she even looked and acted like a cocky X5...-

"Hi, I'm Sasha, it's nice to meet you." She'd extended her hand for Max to shake.

Max completed the gesture. "Max, nice to meet you too."

"So are you psy-ops or X4 or what?" She said with a smile that showed all of her brilliant, perfect, white teeth.

Max laughed and shook her head. "X5 actually."

Sasha's eyebrows almost touched her hairline. "Really?"

"Why do you look so surprised?" Max's own eyebrows creased slightly.

The girl laughed a little nervously. "I'm sorry it's just that, well, X5's have a specific look-" She shook her head. "What I mean is they-**we** look the most physically attractive out of all the series."

-  
Mole had laughed, Alec had made a cocky remark about how he was so obviously X5 and Max was the only one to pick up her mistake. That was the first time she'd tried to undermine Max and that was the first time that Max became suspicious of her.

Max peeked around the concrete block again. They were gone for now. She had to expect that she had less time than usual due to the recent events. Patrols would be doubled. Max went through a secret opening that few transgenics knew about. Max stuck to the more deserted parts and tried to find a route to the warehouse in the North side of TC. Alec was supposed to go there to get the supposed murder weapon. Max was nearing the rear-entrance of the warehouse. If Alec hadn't gotten the gun then Max would have to. Then she would look for him. The entrance wasn't guarded surprisingly as this was where the murder had taken place. Max looked around until she was sure that no one would see her. Luckily many people were in command, at medical and out so the streets were mostly empty. Max peeked through an old window to make sure that it was empty before she rushed inside as someone was approaching. Max sighed as the person walked past the warehouse. She turned on her heels towards the place where the gun was. It belonged to Jack, another X5. Max bent down to look around for it. She made sure not to touch the sticky patch of day old blood. They hadn't cleaned it up yet. She had no idea where the gun was. She felt around for it when she opened the grate on the floor. It could've fallen through. Max winced as she felt something disgusting. Then she felt the edge of the gun. Her hand recoiled slightly. She really didn't want to touch it. It went against all her beliefs but she knew she had to do this for her and Alec's sake.

Max thought back to the second week after Sasha had arrived. She's made friends with almost everyone she'd met so far. Even some of the scaliest transhumans liked her. Max hadn't even been able to meet that many people in TC yet, let alone befriend them. She wasn't really jealous about losing the miss popularity prize, she'd just found it weird. One person in particular had taken a fancy to Sasha. The particularly good-looking X5 Jack. He'd run after her for weeks but she stringed him along, not really interested. She was busy with other things…  
-

"Hey Sasha I got those, uhm, various items you wanted." Jack said quietly so that Max wouldn't hear but Max could hear every word from across the large table in Command. She looked over some floor plans of a heist while Alec read some magazine and ate his lunch.

"Thanks Jack." Sasha said sweetly making the 20 year old blush.

"Alec, for the last time, get your feet off the table!" Max growled. He'd bumped it and made her pen slip and she'd drawn a line down the plans.

"Give him a break he's been working so hard lately Max." Sasha stood next to Alec and placed a warm, affectionate hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and smiled and then looked at Max and at the dark line on the page and smirked.

Jack still stood next to Sasha. Max caught the vicious look in his eye as he saw Sasha's hand on Alec's shoulder. She looked back at Alec and rolled her eyes then continued with her work.

"Hey, do you wanna come over for dinner at my place tonight?" Jack tried to get Sasha's attention again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I gotta help Alec with something tonight." She looked at Jack with remorse. "Rain check?"

Jack looked so close to tears. Max looked up under her eyelashes so that no one saw her staring. She caught the little frown Alec had but he didn't look up from his magazine. Obviously he hadn't been let in on the plans for their evening.

"Oh. Okay." Jack nodded slowly. Then his face brightened. "If you need anything let me know."

"Alright." Sasha nodded.

Jack walked away reluctantly. Max shook her head to herself.

"So, you all done here?" Sasha asked Alec.

"Uh, I think Max needs me here." Alec said looking up at the blue eyed beauty, her long black-brown hair pulled up into a loose pony-tail.

Utter insult and confusion flashed across Sasha's face for a split second. Max wasn't sure if she'd imagined it or not. Then Sasha turned her focus on Max, a smile in place. "You don't mind if I steal him away do you?"

Max smirked at the 'save-me' look on Alec's face. "No, not at all. You don't even have to return him." The look of betrayed shock on Alec's face made Max want to laugh out loud but she stayed silent.

"Thanks." Max was almost sure she heard the fakeness in her voice.

Alec went with her half-heartedly.

-  
Max grabbed the gun, trying not to drop it whilst holding it between her thumb and forefinger, like it was the most repulsive thing in the world. Just then she heard the cock of another gun pointed at her head. Max froze. If the person holding the gun had been an ordinary she could've taken them out but if she moved now, with a transgenic or transhuman holding that gun to her scalp, she would probably get shot.

Max said nothing as she was dragged away by two transgenics and a transhuman following behind. She knew all three of the men. She'd been their leader not one month ago. They took her to a building near the centre of TC. The first floor was used for storage but the second was empty. As Max walked up the stairs she heard the voices of Alec, Mole, Jack and Michael. Michael was an older X series. One of the first successes. He had a lot of experience and had taken over the CO position when Sasha died.

"If you say Max didn't do it and Jack says he didn't do it then that leaves you!" Michael shouted.

"It wasn't me either." Alec growled. As Max turned the corner she saw the furious glare Alec was giving the CO of Terminal City. He was tied to a chair in the middle of the dilapidated room. Rare Seattle sunlight streamed in through the dirty windows. Alec's expression changed when he saw Max. Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"Well if it isn't miss hypocrite herself." Mole said, chewing around his cigar.

"Look what we caught her removing from the sight." The X6 said holding up the gun that Max had been holding.

"Of course she was." Michael said narrowing his eyes at Max.

"Hey, thought I'd drop buy." Max said sarcastically to Alec.

"I thought I told you I was busy and to wait for me." Alec said back equally sarcastic.

"Got bored." Max said as the men shoved her against one of the pillars in the middle of the room and tied her arms behind it.

"Now…" Michael paced the room. "Who killed Sasha?"

"Do you really want the truth?" Max asked looking dead-serious.

Michael nodded civilly. "Please."

Alec coughed getting Max's attention for a moment. Max locked eyes with him for an instant understanding what he was silently saying to her. She looked back at Michael. "I didn't kil-"

"Oh come on! We caught you red handed at the murder scene-"

"I was trying to clear my name-"

"-trying to remove the gun."

"-you and everyone else who knows me knows I don't use guns-"

"-I don't think anyone here really knows you or what you're capable of!"Max remained silent for a moment. Her screaming match with Michael was getting her nowhere.

"Sasha was kind, loving, compassionate. A good soldier."

"That's not true."

"You couldn't handle it when she pointed out the flaws in your plans."

"She created those flaws-"

"When she found your secret messages to White."

"**she planted those messages!**"

"Stop! Your lies aren't going to get you out of this."

"She's not lying!"

"Alec you're just as much apart of this as she is. Watch what you say."

Alec remembered when he'd become involved in this whole thing. Four months ago things were getting bad. White was closing in on them from practically every direction. Sasha had driven a wedge between Logan and Max that was so big that he moved away. That was when Alec knew that something was wrong. As much as he disliked the guy he knew that he wouldn't have abandoned Max under any circumstances besides…psy-ops was the only option. Alec had been coming up with a theory for why Sasha could manipulate almost anyone besides himself and Max. One night he was with Max at her apartment…  
-

"I can't believe they thought my plan was flawed." Max growled as she paced up and down her living room, wearing out her rug.

"Relax. I'm sure it was just a mistake." Alec sat on Max's couch, elbows resting on his knees.

"But I didn't make it, Alec. Everything was perfect when I checked it out." Max's eyebrows had furrowed leaving two deep lines between her brow.

"What're you saying?"

"I'm saying that those plans went through someone else before they came to me." Max looked at Alec like he knew exactly who it was.

Alec nodded. "I think she's psy-ops." Alec stated out of the blue.

"What?" Max stood still and looked at Alec like he was crazy.

"Think about it. It's the only way any of this is conceivable. Everyone is 'under her spell' except for us."

"Why not us though?"

"Well I don't know about you but after that whole deal with Mia last year I learnt some techniques for resisting psy-ops. Plus six months at Manticore taught me a few things too."

Max sat down next to Alec. "Okay." She nodded slowly. "Still doesn't explain me."

"I dunno, maybe that freaky rune thing in your blood protects you or somethin'."

Max gave Alec a skeptical look. "Didn't help with Mia."

"Then maybe it only kicked in now-" Alec said getting impatient "-listen, this is the best explanation and pretty much the only one we can find."

"What do we do?" For once Max was asking Alec's advice. He smiled to himself, slightly flattered. Unfortunately he didn't have an impressive plan. "I don't know. We lay low for now. Do some more recon."

"Should I carry on letting her get away with everything she's doing to me?" Max ground out between clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry Max but you gotta keep your head cool for this one." Alec put his hand on Max's forearm for a moment before getting up.

Max nodded and Alec turned to leave her apartment. "Where're you goin'?"

"To spy on our little psy-ops experiment." Alec smirked.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Max smiled.

"If I followed those rules I wouldn't have any fun." Alec quipped but left the apartment quickly as Max threw something towards the door, missing him. She heard him chuckling down the hall and smiled to herself.

_-  
15 hours earlier…Second storey of the storage building_

Michael had interrogated them for the last four hours. He'd finally decided to take a break and leave them alone for awhile. He'd gone over the last nine months like clockwork. He'd even examined some time before Sasha had arrived. He'd wondered if Max had been working against the transgenics her whole life. It didn't matter if she'd let them out in the first place -he figured that it was all part of an elaborate scheme. Max wondered how much brain-washing he'd gone through at Manticore to still believe she was a traitor. They must've flashed her picture and the word turncoat in front of his face about a billion times. Max had even started crying towards the end. That's when Mole had left the room. Alec had lowered his head. Not even Michael was comfortable with watching the small brunette sob.

Now that they were alone and escape wasn't an option (Max wriggled her wrists and winced as the tight ropes burnt her skin, re-enforcing her theory) she looked at Alec who was also trying to get his hands free.

"Can't we just tell them the truth."

"Yeah Max, 'cuz that's gone over real smooth so far."

"We're not getting outta here either way Alec."

Just then they heard someone walking up the stairs. Michael entered the room.

"Are you ready to talk?" Michael raised his eyebrows at Max.

"Are you ready to listen to what I'm saying?" Max shot back.

"Tell me again." He said patronizingly.

"Sasha arrived at TC nine months ago."

"Yes." Michael nodded.

"She proved her worth in the heists for TC."

He nodded again.

"We slowly gave her more and more responsibility."

"Uh huh."

"She began to corrupt the missions-"

Michael began to shake his head as Max rushed through the rest.

"Frame me for mistakes-"

"No."

"Set me up with White-"

"No."

"Undermine my decisions-"

"No!-"

"Turn everyone against me and Alec with her psy-ops bul-"

"This is where you lose the plot Max!"

Max sighed.

Michael looked frustrated and tired. He sighed too. "How do you know she was psy-ops?" He asked simply.

"Did you do the autopsy I requested?"

"We don't need to."

"Please, Michael. If I'm wrong then I'll admit defeat and you can do what you want with us."

"Speak for yourself." Alec muttered.

Max rolled her eyes and then carried on. "But if I'm right -you'll have to think about what I've told you so far."

"You do know that if you're wrong we're going to hand you over to the police. We've already explained the crime to them and they've agreed to take the murderer off our hands."

"Whose idea was this?"

"Everyone agreed."

Max nodded.

"I'll inform medical right away." Michael turned to walk out.

"While you're 'bout it could you let us outta these ropes, I'm startin'ta chafe." Alec smiled fakely at Michael.

"Just because there's a percent chance that she was psy-ops doesn't mean that excuses her death. You could still be facing incarceration. We've cleared Jack's name already. The only suspects left are you two." With that Michael walked out of the room and back down the stairs.

Max shared a scared look with Alec. "Tell me you have a plan."

Alec looked at Max regretfully. "I'm sorry Maxie."

A/N: Alright never mind about the one-shot thing. I just proved to myself that one-shots are impossible for me to write. There's one more chapter after this. Considering this is my special X-mas story it's a tad morbid. I just had the idea or Max trying to commit suicide. I don't think I've read one about that subject before so I thought it was unique. I'm going to make it more romantic in the next chapter. It started out being a simple story but once I got started my imagination went wild. It is longer than my usual chapter length so I hope you enjoyed it so far. PLEASE press that review button and send me a Christmas present..

P.S Since it's a mystery tell me who you think the killer was if you review.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

_12 hours earlier__…__Second storey of the storage building_

No one had reported any news to Max or Alec for the last three hours. Occasionally a transhuman that neither transgenic knew would check up on them but wouldn't converse and would then leave again. Max's legs were getting tired. A new feeling of desolation despair and guilt flooded her entire body as her legs gave out underneath her. Max slumped down to the floor uncomfortably.

"Where are they?" Alec eventually wondered aloud. "How long does an autopsy take anyway!" Hey shouted for the benefit of the few people hovering around.

"Listen Alec, if she's not psy-ops, we're going to be in a _lot_ of trouble. I don't want you to take responsibility for anything. Some people still like you and they'll pull strings, maybe not hand you over-"

"Max, no. Don't think like that. I won't leave you alone in this. I mean you know it's half my fault anyway." The touch of humour in Alec's voice just made Max shoot him an annoyed glare.

_1 month earlier __…__Crash._

It had taken months of negotiating and deals but transgenic (at least, the ones who looked normal) were allowed back into the city. For a month they'd been cautious about going out but it was finally time to relax at their favorite bar. Alec had tagged along with Max to meet up with OC and Sketchy at Crash. Much to Max's distaste, Sasha (and naturally, Jack) had followed using her: "I've never seen Crash before, Alec, show me?" line and running a hand through her beautiful black hair. Alec shared a look with Max but couldn't really say no.

So a while later they all sat at a table, Sketchy unable to take his eyes off the transgenic (and despite all of Max's warnings about her, OC couldn't help but feel attracted to her as well).

"Jack, would you go get us some drinks please." Max watched as the transgenic obeyed Sasha as if he were her slave. She felt oddly sorry for the X5, he was whipped beyond belief.

Sasha placed a hand on Alec's shoulder and Max shared a look with OC (she'd told her about their theories about the psy-ops beauty).

"Dance with me?" Sasha crooned into Alec's ear. Not really minding dancing with the beautiful, albeit crazy 'X5', Alec let her take his hand and lead him to the dance floor. "Why wasn't I born a transgenic…" Sketchy wondered aloud. Max rolled her eyes, ignoring his ignorant comment. As soon as Jack came back he'd caught sight of Sasha practically using Alec as a stripper pole. The few jugs of beer in his hands came crashing down and shattering all over the floor, splashing Max's boots.

_9 days earlier__…__Max__'__s apartment._

Max was in her apartment with Alec, seething from the comments Sasha had made at dinner.

"'_I thought you were designed better than that Max.__'_" She mimicked Sasha's voice and slammed her kitchen cabinet closed with more force than necessary. Alec snickered from his position on the couch.

"It's not funny." Max opened her small refrigerator violently.

"It's funny when you do it." Alec smirked to himself.

Max only glared then went back to pouring herself a glass of milk. "Seriously, why can't she just leave me alone."

"Why won't she leave **me** alone?" Alec muttered.

Max walked to sit across from him. "It is strange how she's all over you, isn't it?"

Alec was insulted. "**That****'****s** not strange." He said with wide eyes. "What's strange is that she doesn't get the hint that I'm not interested."

Max seemed to mull it over. "Maybe we should think about exposing what's really going on with her. I mean we know that she's been influencing practically everyone into adoring her."

"Not to mention playing around with that poor kid." Alec stole Max's milk from the table and took a sip, earning another glare.

"He's the same age as you." Max didn't bother informing Alec that he had a dairy-mustache.

Alec looked at Max with a dead serious expression. "I'm more mature." He stated.

Max laughed and pointed towards the bathroom. "I suggest you look in the mirror Mr. Mature."

Alec rushed to the mirror and wiped the milk off of his face frowning as he walked back to the couch.

"Whatever, let's just think about what we're going to do to get her off our backs."

"Or cause her to snap.." Max's smile was malevolent.

"Maybe, if I got a girlfriend-"

Max's expression lit up. "Yes! She'd hate it."

Alec felt proud that Max had agreed with him.

"So who would you date? Oh wait, what about Bell?"

Alec swallowed. "It should be someone she hates.." He looked at Max, trying to get his point across using his eyes only.

"The only female she hates is-" Max trailed off. "No." She shook her head at Alec as if he were a dog that had done something disobedient.

"But listen, not only would she hate it more than anything, she'd snap within the week Max."

Max began to argue but Alec cut her off. "You know I'm right."

The sigh coming from her mouth was long and pained. "Fine."

Alec tried to hide his excitement. Had he just landed himself a fake girlfriend? Was that fake girlfriend Max? Yes. Yes it was.

"We'll have the results soon." Michael's voice shocked Max and Alec out of their thoughts. "You better pray to whatever you believe in that she's psy-ops." And with that Michael had disappeared again. Alec sighed. "Cheer up Maxie."

His attempt at sparking irritation within her at the use of the name didn't exactly work out as she merely smiled weakly at him. "How can I when all of my people hate me.

'_I don__'__t hate you.__'_ Alec would have said it, but he wasn't sure his opinion meant much to her at that moment.

_9 days earlier __…__ Max__'__s apartment._

"No touching."

Alec shook his head at Max. "We have to touch otherwise there's no point. She'll smell a bad relationship from a mile away."

Max ground her teeth together. "Fine."

Alec smiled sarcastically then carried on thinking.

"You really think this will work?"

Alec shrugged, "Let's call it an experiment."

"Can't believe I let you talk me into this." Max figured since he was now her fake boyfriend she could put her feet on his lap, crossing her arms like a child throwing a tantrum.

Alec just cocked an eyebrow at her.

"But we only touch in public."

Alec pointed down to her feet. "Does this count?"

"Shut up."

The next day Max walked into the command centre with Joshua. Mind on the very serious matter of shortage of medical supplies rather than her and Alec's master plan. As Joshua broke away to speak to another transhuman about something, Max walked up to the higher level where Alec was talking to Mole.

"Mole. Alec." She greeted them formally, stepping past to type something into one of the computers.

"Max." Mole acknowledged her and Alec was suddenly behind her, arms wrapping around her waist. Max froze, remembered that what was happening was all a part of the plan, and suppressed the urge to knee Alec in the groin.

"Woah Alec, how long have you been feeling suicidal?" Mole's eyebrows (or lack thereof) rose, eyes widening slightly.

Alec turned with Max still in his arms, a cocky smile on his face. "Oh yeah, Max and I are dating now."

The entire building of command went silent. A pencil clattered to the ground somewhere in an office.

Max noticed a small, satisfied smile on Jack's face and knew exactly where his mind was. Now that Alec was taken, maybe Sasha would actually pay him attention.

A few seconds passed and Max fought to keep from being flustered with the situation. "Yeah, now that everybody knows, let's just get along with our work." With that she got out of Alec's arms as gently as she could manage, still managing to dig her nails into him which screamed '_too much too soon_' and Alec fought to keep a wince off of his face.

A quiet murmur of gossip settled over TC for that entire day and no one wanted to tell Sasha, not even Jack. He decided to wait for her to see it herself.

Mid-day Sasha walked into command with a skip in her step, practically bouncing all the way up to Alec.

"Hey Alec." Her smile was just the same when she saw Max leaning over some plans with him but it didn't touch her eyes at all. "Hey, Max.."

Max thought it was creepy as hell. "What's up Sasha?" Max's unusually warm greeting caused Alec to fight off a smirk that threatened to cause some suspicion. Alec made a point to put his hand around Max's waist then.

"I -I thought that.. Maybe Alec -I mean you might need some help." Max looked up and watched as Sasha's expression turned from shock into a controlled malevolence.

"I mean, I'm sure you need help after yesterday's mistake."

The anger welled up within Max like venom in a snakes mouth but she knew exactly what to do to vent her rage.

"No we don't need help, but thanks for offering." Max's words were bitter molasses in her mouth. Then she caught the humorous glint in Alec's eyes that made her want to hi-5 her SIC. Instead, she turned towards him and put her arms around his neck, only she could feel the tense of his body before he reacted and put his hands on her waist.

"We should get this done soon though, we have plans tonight."

Alec was momentarily lost in Max's eyes and he just nodded.

Then Max did something she knew would send Sasha over the edge. She kissed Alec. Sanding on her toes and just pecking him lightly on his lips (which Max subconsciously noted as extremely soft). It wasn't much, but it was enough to cause Sasha to freeze and then walk into her office, shut the door behind her and break her desk in half.

Max smiled up at Alec while the whole of command tried to make sense of what had happened. Alec tried to get his vision to focus so that he could share the joke with Max but all he could think about was his first kiss with Max Guevara.

Over the next few days Max and Alec shared a few hugs and touches but as much as Alec hoped for another kiss, it didn't happen. However, the original purpose of their plan was working out perfectly. Sasha was always on edge, snapping at people, breaking furniture for no reason. The one night in TC's makeshift bar she had even got into a fist-fight with an X6 who said that she thought Max and Alec's relationship was 'cute'.

The following Friday night Max was again in her apartment with Alec. She really hadn't noticed when it had become a habit for him to come over, or for her to go to his place. But eventually they found that they had their own key's to the other's home and thought nothing of it.

"Did you see her face?" Max giggled to herself while she lay stomach down on her couch as Alec cooked something on the stove which smelled like Macaroni (probably Joshua's recipe).

Alec laughed too. "She looked like she was biting her own tongue off."

There was a moment of silence as Max watched Alec move around her kitchen like it was his own. "Thank you Alec."

He looked puzzled. "For what?"

"For thinking the same things as me, and, you know, helping me with this." Max found it hard to get her gratitude out.

Alec only smiled. "You forget that we're actually very similar."

Max scoffed audibly. "Hi, I'm Mac, the cocky X5 who won't stop getting into trouble just for the fun of it."

Alec rolled his eyes playfully. "Hi, I'm Alex, the X5 with the most bipolar attitude you've ever seen. I'll be nice one minute and I'll bite your head off the next."

Max actually laughed, before she threw a magazine at Alec's head, dead on target.

"See what I mean?" Alec was thankful the object hadn't landed in his Macaroni concoction.

The next day Max caught a glimpse of something unsettling. Jack and Sasha were having a very heated conversation in an alley beside command. They hadn't noticed Max on the roof above them (she was there just to get some fresh air after spending the morning in the stuffy building). Then Sasha punched jack in the face and Max could hear the sound of a bone smashing from where she was.

"What the hell are you doing!?" She shouted down at them and Sasha glared up with hate in her eyes.

"None of your business, whore!"

With that Max rushed inside and ordered for medics to get Jack's nose sorted out while she spoke with Sasha.

She managed to get Sasha to stay still after Jack had gone with a few other transgenics, leading the way towards medical.

"What's your problem Sasha?" Max crossed her arms.

"None of your business."

"It's all my business. What you do to another transgenic is my responsibility since I'm responsible for you."

"You won't be in power for much longer." Sasha's words were like poison. "Then not even Alec will be loyal to you."

"What are you talking about."

Sasha began to walk away. "Don't worry about it."

Max caught her arm and pulled her back. "What. Do you mean?"

Sasha turned and Max caught the crazy look in the transgenic's eyes before she punched Max in the face. Max pulled back just enough to avoid her nose being broken but it was bleeding. The metallic taste soon in her mouth and trickling down the back of her throat.

Max saw red, literally and figuratively, lunging out and punching Sasha back. The women fought for a few moments, Max landing a kick to Sasha's ribs and Sasha pulling Max's hair like she was a rag doll.

Soon an X7 had screamed for help and the entire of command rushed out to find Max holding Sasha up in a one-handed strangle hold.

The entire situation looked bad and Max briefly wondered if she'd been had. That this had all been Sasha's plan from the start.

* * *

A/N: So this has taken me what.. Almost 2 years to update? Rofl. I blame SHINee/Jay Park/K-pop goddammit.

I know that some people who were following this story before are probably never going to see it again, but I hope some of the original viewers do see it. Also, welcome to the people who will only be reading this for the first time now.

See kids, this is what happens when you switch fandoms for 22 months and then suddenly get hit by inspiration for your old love all of a sudden.

I haven't written for Dark Angel since December 2010 basically._. And then all of a sudden I write 5300 words of it -,- I hope this inspiration lasts me awhile at least.

Andy Depp Ackles is back. (for the moment at least) xD

The next (and final) chapter is ready and waiting and if anyone is confused with the flashback thing just tell me and I'll draw you a timeline u-u

R&R


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Things went downhill from there. Sasha had twisted the story to make it seem like Max had attacked her. Jack refused to admit that Sasha was the one who broke his nose, blaming that too on Max (for Sasha's benefit of course and Max didn't find his puppy love sad anymore, it was just infuriating).

A few people took Max's side but she suspected they were the ones that Sasha hadn't really hung around with enough to 'influence'. That included Joshua and Gem amongst others.

And of course Alec believed Max's version of the story. He took her to medical to get her nose tended to, even though it was in better shape than Jack's. One medic still had a soft spot for Max and helped her clean up.

"You know none of it is your fault Alec. Let's stop with the lying."

"She liked me. It was my idea to antagonize her."

Max shook her head. "It's not your fault you're _irresistible_." Max said it teasingly but her words didn't match her tone. Alec shivered.

"_Wait, You can__'__t tell them that you did it now. They__'__re still under the effects -or whatever the hell she did to them_." Alec whispered anxiously, absently pulling on the rope around his wrists. "_They might not let you go_."

Alec didn't like the look in Max's eyes. It was as if she'd given up.

"It wouldn't really matter. I should be locked away.." Max muttered.

Alec swallowed hard.

Michael appeared suddenly and Max wondered if they'd added creeper to his concoction of DNA. "The results are back."

Max and Alec looked at him with tense faces.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "She's psy-ops alright. One of the more advanced ones. Seemingly X5, well, her looks and abilities, but she also had extremely dangerous chemicals in her DNA. All of which are influencing and opiate-inducing."

Alec let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "That's great."

"That doesn't let you off the hook. We don't accept discrimination against any transgenic, even psy-ops creations."

Max felt her stomach churn as Michael used her own words from a speech made long ago, against her.

She closed her eyes. "I killed her."

"Max, no-" Alec began.

"I need to tell you exactly how it happened." Michael nodded. "That night in the warehouse.."

_25 hours earlier __…__A particular warehouse in TC._

After all the drama from the day before Max walked into her apartment the next night to find a note shoved underneath her door. It was from Sasha, saying to meet her in a warehouse not far from Command in exactly 5 minutes.

Max had stopped by Alec's to show him the note, having no inclination of being punctual for the woman who'd caused her so much trouble and insinuated just that morning, that she was affiliated with White. Pointing at Max's runes with accusation as everyone in TC looked at Max in a new light. She had been hurt on so many levels. The mistrust in their eyes stung the most.

Alec wasn't at his apartment so she decided to slip the same note underneath his door and go alone.

The warehouse was dark so she flicked the light switch on illuminating the area with a pale white glow.

"Sasha?" Max called, looking around. She spun when she heard a noise from behind her. Sasha stood there with a gun in her right hand, Max noted.

"What's that for?" Max glanced down then back at Sasha.

The girl merely smiled, revealing her beautiful teeth. "This?" Sasha waved the gun around too carelessly for Max's liking. "It's for protection. Wouldn't want you attacking me again."

Max narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"Don't have an opinion on that? That's unusual." Sasha grinned.

Max shifted as they began to circle each other in the large open area, realizing she didn't have much cover if Sasha decided to open fire. "Oh I have an opinion, it's just that guns make me feel.. Well, icky." Max smiled sarcastically at Sasha.

"Oh really?" Sasha blurred closer to Max in an instant and pointed the gun right at her head. "How about now?"

Max swallowed. This was why she hated guns. She cocked her head to the side with a slight smirk. "Still not okay with me."

Her plan seemed to be working as Sasha blurred right up to her, the gun directly against Max's skull. Now was her chance. Max hit Sasha's arm away with such force that it fell from her grip and clanked to the floor. Then Max kicked Sasha in her stomach, sending her sprawling a few feet away. If Max had been anyone else, she'd have picked the gun up and ended this. But she didn't want to go against all she believed in so she decided to go with the plain, old-fashioned, ass-kicking.

Sasha sprung to her feet with ease and glared at Max then ran towards her, almost punching Max in the face again but Max deflected the blow and was instead kneed in the stomach by Sasha. Max tackled Sasha to the floor in her position and Sasha again grabbed her hair and began to pull as hard as she could and claw at Max's face at the same time. Max punched Sasha in the face but that only made the anger in her eyes spark and her face was the embodiment of wrath. She punched Max back, again and again, without a pause or an opportunity for Max to get her to stop. Then Sasha's fingers clamped around Max's neck and red (probably blood) filled her vision. Struggling to breathe and about to pass out any second, Max reached to her left and grasped, the first time in over ten years, a gun. Just before Max lost her strength altogether, she pulled the trigger and seconds later she was lying in a puddle of blood, Sasha on top of her, regaining her ability to move and see and comprehend what had just happened.

Max heard Alec run into the warehouse then, voice a mixture of panic and the calm soldier he was trained to be. Pulling Sasha's body off of Max, feeling her pulse, frowning as he thought through what to do next, hiding the gun in a grate on the far end of the room, wiping it of prints and then ordering Max to put her arms around his neck as he lifted her from the ground and blurred out of the warehouse.

They'd managed to get out of TC before Jack had discovered Sasha's body and gone crazy with grief, shouting for help. Of course she was ice cold by the time she'd been taken back to medical.

Alec took Max to his old apartment which she remembered telling him to get rid of many months ago but was ironically grateful for his disobedient streak. Able to walk on her own by then, Max let out a laugh that didn't quite sound like herself. Alec's trademark smirk was also off kilter as he led her in and sat her on the couch. Alec slowly got Max to tell him exactly what had happened.

"I shouldn't have gone alone." Max's eyes were wide when the realization of what she'd done and what it meant now that they'd run.

"It wasn't your fault Max." Alec walked to the bathroom to check the water, which was still running (and warm). "You should wash the blood out of your hair."

Max nodded and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. The hot water made her feel slightly more human.

Alec searched through a pile of clothes he still had from women who'd spent the night there in the past and left their clothing behind. He practically had a complete outfit laid out for Max when she was done. And they'd said his tomcat ways wouldn't amount to anything.

Soon Max was dressed and discussing what would happen back at TC because of her death. Max pushed her guilt for killing Sasha down so that she didn't think about it.

"You shouldn't have helped me escape Alec." Max shook her head. "They'll count you as an accomplice now."

"But you didn't **do** anything Max." Alec was getting tired of trying to prove her innocent to herself.

"I killed her."

"Okay one, self defense, two, she was a cold bitch, three, you've never had a problem with killing people before." Alec knew as soon as he said the last thing that it was a mistake.

"That's exactly the problem." Max frowned. "Why is it my right to kill someone else?"

Alec gripped Max's arm. "She was trying to kill **you**, you had no choice."

"She was just upset…" Max stared dejectly at the floor.

"We can't sit around talking about how she was too young and innocent to die, okay. You need to get somewhere safe while I take a damage report."

Max sat up. "I'll go with you."

"No, no, no. You're too fragile right now." Alec held his hands up.

"I am not _**fragile**_." Max growled, glaring at Alec. And in that moment the Max he knew flared up and spat fire at him.

"Fine, but you're shaken up. And you know as well as me that we can't go back yet. And Max… don't tell _anyone_ that you killed her, okay?"

Max agreed to stay with Original Cindy for a few hours while Alec scoped TC out. Thoughts of how much she hated Sasha again clouded her mind. She had a brand new reason to hate the woman, one that would stay with her forever. _Max hated Sasha because she__'__d always be responsible for her death._

_30 minutes earlier__…__The Space Needle._

Michael had released Max and Alec earlier that day and told them to stay out of Terminal City for awhile until the people had calmed down, and the full affects of Sasha's manipulation had been uncovered.

Max had always loved the Space Needle. It was one of the few places she'd like to stay at forever. How long had it been since she'd been there? 11 months? The cityscape was beautiful and tragic at the same time. And Max had never been a poetic person, but the closest to philosophical she'd ever felt had always been up here.

Tears welled up in the transgenic's eyes as she looked out over the buildings below. So many people were dead because of her. So many had suffered because of her. She remembered how some of the transgenics had first looked at her. Hatred in their eyes and because of her escape, they'd been tortured and forced to do unimaginable things. Max stood up and walked to the edge of the concrete slope. Ready to jump.

"Max?…Max!…What're you doing!?" The voice was distant and muffled in Max's mind. She wasn't even sure she knew who it was or if it was real. The only thing real to her was the glow of the twinkling city lights below. Someone out there was living a normal, happy, life (maybe not such a happy one but at least it was normal right?). Max took one step closer to the edge. She wondered if she could crash heaven's party. Or maybe God would send her to hell for all the damage she'd caused in her life. Maybe she wouldn't go anywhere. The thought of non-existence frightened Max but was also slightly relieving at the same time. The thought had occurred to her before: she didn't have a real soul. She wasn't made by God and wasn't one of his living creatures. Maybe those fools babbling about the transgenic race on TV weren't really fools at all.

Max took a deep breath. It didn't matter anyway. The air at the top of the space needle was cold, colder than usual. Max mentally said goodbye to everything she knew and everyone that used to care for her as she let herself fall…

The falling sensation in her core only lasted a split second before someone had grabbed her arm and hauled her up again, back onto the graffiti'd surface of the roof.

"Are you crazy!?" Alec shook Max, grip on her shoulders like a vice.

Max's tears streamed uncontrollably then because she'd been wrong. They had to be created by God or whatever higher power there was because an Angel had rescued her. A dark (in a figurative way at least) Angel. Max smiled through her tears and hugged Alec. The idiotic, egotist who'd saved her ass too many times to count now. Forever repaying his debt to her. And she was so glad she hadn't let his head explode all those months ago.

A few weeks later Max and Alec were allowed to come back to Terminal City. Michael had done a good job of clearing their names and investigating all the incidents where Sasha had sabotaged their missions over the last 9 months. There was even recorded proof that was not-so-amazingly looked over at the time. She'd had almost everyone practically under a spell. A siren song. And soon the effects were gone.

As Max walked into Command with her SIC the entire building cheered and over the course of the week a few people had come to apologize for their actions. Max insisted that it wasn't their fault, that it had been a chemical reaction however Alec would either reply 'apology accepted' or 'damn right you're sorry'. Every time, Max had either rolled her eyes or smacked him.

The day after their return Mole had handed Max a very expensive looking jar of coffee beans. "They're the best in the Northern Hemisphere apparently." Max knew it was his way of apologizing. Alec got nothing because according to Mole, 'princess still doesn't deserve to be second in command' and then he walked away mumbling: 'I should be god-damn second in command'.

Within a week things had gone back to normal and Jack was already hitting on Bell. Alec found his key to Max's apartment soon enough and was already invading her space regularly.

One Monday in command Dix felt the need to voice a question that had been bugging him for a while. "So, not to be slow or anything but, are you and Alec still dating?"

Max laughed and shook her head vehemently. "No."

Alec looked at her with mock confusion, hand on his heart as if he had been wounded. "We're not?" This only confused Dix more.

Max smacked Alec then smiled at the transhuman. "We're not dating Dix, don't worry."

The next night Max went out to crash with Alec, Bell, Gem, Sketchy, Jack, OC, Asha and Rafer. Why Asha had tagged along was beyond Max but she suspected Sketchy to be up to something.

Jack had taken a liking to Asha and was with her on the dance floor, OC and Sketchy had convinced Bell and Gem to play pool with them (even though Max warned them that OC was a shark when it came to that game, knowing full well that Gem and Bell would beat them ultimately), which left Alec in the annoying company of Rafer, and Max.

"So you're telling me you and him pretended to be dating." Rafer looked Alec up and down and then back at Max.

"Yep."

Alec rolled his eyes.

"Your life sounds crazy Max."

Alec suddenly knew what Rafer reminded him of. Those annoying puppies that chewed on stuff. He laughed to himself.

"You have no idea." Max laughed and Alec couldn't take anymore of this inane conversation. So he got up and left to join someone he'd been friends with since he'd started working at Jam Pony in a game of foosball. Max didn't stop him.

Later on when they were back in TC Max walked into her apartment with a slightly tipsy Alec bouncing on his heels outside of it.

She laughed. "Are you coming in or what." He walked inside and the room was only spinning a little when he sat on Max's couch, sufficiently buzzed but already the feeling was leaving him.

"How much did you drink?" Max searched in her fridge for something to eat.

"Enough." Alec grinned at her until she sat down next to him, having found nothing to eat. She put her legs over his lap just like she always did except Alec stared at her, slightly uninhibited and not wanting to look away.

"What?" Max eventually raised her eyebrows at him.

"What's with all this 'pretending to date me' stuff?" Alec's smile was sincere and Max was confused with his statement. "_What_?"

"Just date me Max." The reply was so honest and Alec's eyes were so serious that Max couldn't help the next word that escaped her mouth.

"Alright." Her eyes were trained on his as he smirked and put his hand on her neck, pulling her closer before kissing her properly for the first time.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story for so long (and the new viewers xD)

Also the timeline I promised will have to be written out because I can't share pics on here -.-

Firstly, Sasha arrives at TC 9 months before Max tries to kill herself. Over the months Sasha turns people against Max and manipulates them. Then Max and Alec pretend to date a week before Sasha's death. Sasha is furious, this leads to Max having to kill her. Then Alec and Max flee TC, Max goes to Alec's old apartment then to her and OC's new apartment to lay low. Alec then goes to TC but Max follows and they both get caught. Michael questions them, let's them go, Max still feels guilty then goes to the Space Needle. etc. Hope that helped a little if you were confused.

And nice guesses as to who the killer was in the first chapter, but I think only one person guessed right xD

lolol.

Reviews are very, **very **appreciated** .-.**


End file.
